Elbow pain while riding

[Steve91]

Evening all,

I've been suffering from pain in my left elbow when out riding recently. I say recently, but its only recently that I've really thought about it.

I seem to be riding with both arms dead straight and 'locked' at the elbow, and while my right arm is fine, my left is in agony after an hour or so. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this, or has any tips on strengthening the elbows.

Cheers!

[yanyan]

Are you getting carpet burns too?

[Steve91]

yanyan said:

Are you getting carpet burns too?

Brilliant.

[Paul Drawmer]

Steve91 said:

I seem to be riding with both arms dead straight and 'locked' at the elbow, ...

If you're in an elbows locked position, it sounds rather unusual. Have a look at pictures of people riding bikes and you will rarely see this, I would suggest having a look at some bike fit videos to start with.

[Matt_N]

Elbows should be slightly bent when riding on the hoods, locked out suggests a big fit issue -bars too far away / too low.

[bakerstreet]

I had this and my wife (Physio by trade) diagnosed it as Tennis Elbow. She said it wasn't a suprise as I do spend a lot of time on a bike (300 miles a month on average) I would take your self off to the Dr and see what they say.

[fat80b]

Matt_N said:

Elbows should be slightly bent when riding on the hoods, locked out suggests a big fit issue -bars too far away / too low.

This - I had a similar thing. After long rides with straight arms, my left elbow ached.

I fitted a shorter stem to bring the bars closer to me and the problem went away with it. A £10 fix

[anonymous-user]

Steve91 said:

Evening all,

I've been suffering from pain in my left elbow when out riding recently. I say recently, but its only recently that I've really thought about it.

I seem to be riding with both arms dead straight and 'locked' at the elbow, and while my right arm is fine, my left is in agony after an hour or so. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this, or has any tips on strengthening the elbows.

Cheers!

If your arms are straight, you're using them to support the weight of your upper body and it's not surprising that you're getting elbow pain (it is surprising that it is just your elbows, and not your wrists/palms too).

You need to strengthen your core, so that that takes the weight of your upper body. Try this: as you are riding, take the weight off your hands so that they are barely touching the bars. You should now feel your core activating to take the load of your upper body. That's what you're missing.

Start with plank and side plank. Hold for as long as you can, repeat three times a day. Then when you ride try to crook your elbow slightly and be conscious of taking weight off your hands. Over time you'll train your core to engage and the plank exercises will help you maintain a good position on the bike.

[Steve91]

Thanks for the advise everyone!

Greg66 said:

If your arms are straight, you're using them to support the weight of your upper body and it's not surprising that you're getting elbow pain (it is surprising that it is just your elbows, and not your wrists/palms too).

Funnily enough I do get pain in my hands, but I had originally put that down to when I broke my wrist in a motorbike accident. Interesting how that could all be linked.

fat80b said:

This - I had a similar thing. After long rides with straight arms, my left elbow ached.

I fitted a shorter stem to bring the bars closer to me and the problem went away with it. A £10 fix

I'll look into this. I've been advised to invert my stem in the short term, as apparently the extra height might help. Does anyone agree, or should I give that a miss? I'm not overly bothered about being 'aero' !

[anonymous-user]

Anything that reduces the angle of your lower back will help in the short term - whether bringing the bars up or towards you or both means less work for your core to do to support your torso. But that’s a workaround rather than a long term solution.